MCKINNEY, Texas — Every major city in Texas has growing pains, and lately, McKinney has been going through one.
To address a slight uptick in the homeless population in the town square, the city has decided to add more neighborhood officers to the area.
"It wasn't because there was a particular uptick in crime, that wasn't there. But there were some public order issues that we started hearing about," said Greg Conley, Director of Public Safety.
There were issues that merchants on the square could not avoid any longer. While there are some sporadic reports of minor theft, merchants were really concerned about loitering.
"It's loitering, it's panhandling, and sometimes it's a noise issue," said Stan Penn, owner of the Irish pub called The Celt.
Penn tells WFAA he's not as affected as some of his fellow merchants. He said some merchants had complained of homeless people sleeping on tables, disrupting customers and experiencing mental crises in storefronts.
The downtown square had two officers devoted to the area. The city has now beefed up enforcement to six neighborhood officers and possibly more. The plan is to ensure there are officers covering a longer, more extended period of time on the square with higher visibility.
"We want our business owners to feel like the police department is responsive and quickly responsive," said Conley.
Paul Ballesteros runs a local nonprofit called Emmanuel Labor. On his website, he says his group is about removing the 'Lessness from Homelessness.' He knows many homeless people by their first names.
"Compassion is a balanced combination of both honesty and grace. We need to be honest with people that that behavior is not okay. But we also need to be able to give a little understanding to what stressor that person is going through," Ballesteros said.
Ballesteros said he will keep a close eye on the city's efforts. He says the vast majority of the homeless population police themselves.
"I'm not an advocate for bad behavior regardless of your situation. Hopefully [this program] comes off as an asset," he said.
Public Safety Chief Greg Conley says the added officers are about creating relationships with merchants and homeless people. Conley says the key is getting those who are homeless connected to the right resources.
"[The officers] are specifically trained in dealing with mental health, dealing with people who are in crisis," said Conley.
The last point-in-time homeless count survey revealed 229 homeless people in the area, which is slightly up from 221 when the previous survey was done. Conley says the city has identified 347 homeless people in the entire city, but says the population numbers are constantly fluctuating.
This new effort will be put to the test this holiday season as more people show up downtown, homed and homeless.
"We want people to come down here and still feel like they always have, have a good time and feel safe," said Penn.
McKinney is hoping to strike the right chord of compassion and compliance.